Shore excursions, included versus optional

[LaineyRod]

On 5/10/2024 at 11:27 AM, CJANDH said:

It seems that the Viking claim of "One complimentary shore excursion in every port of call" has to be taken literally. I was under the assumption that you would get one complimentary excursion from a choice of included excursions as you do on Regent and Silversea. Instead it seems that they are offering a range of extra cost excursions and a pretty lame free tour as a fall back. Not what I think of as "all inclusive" luxury cruising.

I agree with your "lame free tour" with Viking.  We are considering SilverSea next.  Are their included (no extra pay) tours better, in your opinion, than Viking's?  Thanks!

[LaineyRod]

On 5/11/2024 at 3:45 PM, 2cruisecats said:

 

Yes, there is one port on our upcoming Iceland cruise (Heimaey) where there are 2 included tours offered -- Heimaey on Foot and Snapshots of Heimaey. You may only select one of the free tours when booking on MVJ.   On another post I read that if the one not selected has space, you can get on it the day of the tour.  Don't know if this is true but I'm going to test this out in August!

Yes you can and it just depends on availability.  We just got back from the Midnight Sun cruise (which was AWESOME) and we were able to get on a different excursion once and not able on anther occasion.  Good luck and have fun in August!

[Redtravel]

Just booked a cruise that leaves soon.  We expected limited available excursion times. On most days, we got acceptable time slots. On one day, the only time slot is 5:30pm to 8:30 pm. Since I would rather eat dinner than pick that time, we didn’t reserve any excursion on that day. On one day, there is only a demanding excursion. It is the complimentary excursion.  We are older and never book a demanding excursion. Can we just go and stay on the bus? The real disappointment is sold out included excursions. . I thought that Viking would include a complimentary excursion in each port.  We hope that we can work things out once we embark.  Has anyone had similar experiences?  Were you able to rearrange times, etc?

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

Just booked a cruise that leaves soon.  We expected limited available excursion times. On most days, we got acceptable time slots. On one day, the only time slot is 5:30pm to 8:30 pm. Since I would rather eat dinner than pick that time, we didn’t reserve any excursion on that day. On one day, there is only a demanding excursion. It is the complimentary excursion.  We are older and never book a demanding excursion. Can we just go and stay on the bus? The real disappointment is sold out included excursions. . I thought that Viking would include a complimentary excursion in each port.  We hope that we can work things out once we embark.  Has anyone had similar experiences?  Were you able to rearrange times, etc?

First of all - it would help if you told us your itinerary, as well as the tour that was 5:30-8:30 (not seen that very often).

 

Second -"The real disappointment is sold out included excursions"  NOT TRUE AT ALL!!!   Viking DOES provide an included excursion in every port.  It may not be the excursion you want (if they have multiple includeds) or the time you want, but you WILL get one.  They are NOT every sold out even if it shows that.  They will add more people.  I would suggest when you get aboard, immediately go to the Guest Svcs desk and discuss what tours are now available.   We've been able to add or change excursions when we get onboard, but we do that immediately upon boarding at around 10:30 to 11:00.  In fact it is the first thing we do after the safety briefing.  Have been successful in it as well.

 

Also - during the cruise, keep checking back even up to the day of the excursions.  People get sick, get bored, cancel, etc. and there are always openings coming up.    lastly, if there is an included excursion time you preferred and didn't get at first, go to Guest Svcs and ask if you can get on the wait list.  They will likely tell you to go ashore and give your name to the person with the clipboard at least 20-30 minutes ahead.  We've had success with this every time, as someone has always cancelled at the last minute - often times they are just no-shows.

[SJD117]

On 6/18/2024 at 5:52 PM, CCWineLover said:

 

We just recently got off Viking Mars from Bergen to Reykjavik. (Arctic Explorer)

We booked an independent small group tour in Lofoten.  It was absolutely spectacular (time of year - May 30)!    I found 2 other couples on CruiseCritic and the 6 of us had a wonderful time.  We like independent tours and have never had a problem finding people on CruiseCritic Roll Calls.   We also did an independent tour of West Cornwall with another couple on the previous leg (Trade Routes) in Falmouth, UK.  

 

I can highly recommend Hearts of Lofoten Tours.  We did the 6 hour West Lofoten tour with Andrea. He was great as a driver and a guide.  We probably spent 7 hours total - so many stops, so much information, just a spectacular day!

https://heartoflofoten.org/

https://heartoflofoten.org/tour-north-lofoten-2/

 

Kent

 

Glad to hear my recommendation for Heart of Lofoten worked out for you! Andrea wasn’t our guide, but my point of contact for our small group (also organized through CC) — he was very easy to work with.

 

 

Edited July 5 by SJD117

[CDNPolar]

Agree with @CCWineLover on their recommendations.

 

Also, attend the port talks the day before.  Get to know the Shore Ex manager that conducts these talks and talk to her/him/them after the talk about the next day's availability.  Often they are looking to fill a bus.

 

We have also been asked to show up at the busses at a certain time the next day as they anticipate no shows and we have been put on busses this way too.  (Don't just show up without being advised to do so - you want to be on their list)